"Reader, I married him."

Question

Jane Eyre

"Reader, I married him."

'There is probably no single line in the whole of Jane Eyre that has, in itself, attracted as much critical attention as the first line of the last chapter: "Reader, I married him." Why is the phrasing of this line so important? How would the sense be different-for the sentence and for the novel as a whole-if the line read, "Reader, we were married"?

Asked by sam h #274175 on 10/10/2012 9:06 PM

Last updated by jill d #170087 on 10/10/2012 9:15 PM

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Answered by jill d #170087 on 10/10/2012 9:15 PM

In this very simple line Jane tells the reader exactly how far she has come during the course of the novel and exactly who is in charge of her life. She is in charge......... she doesn't say "we got married," she says, "I married him." She is no longer in a passive state; she was in an aggressive state.

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Jane Eyre

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